"It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct"

Sigmund Freud suggests that the development of civilization relies fundamentally on the suppression of innate human instincts. Human beings possess powerful drives, toward aggression, desire, gratification, emerging from their unconscious minds. If unchecked, these instincts could lead to chaos, conflict, and the breakdown of any communal living. As societies come together and evolve, individuals must adapt their behaviors, relinquishing immediate pleasure or aggressive impulses in order to maintain order, cooperation, and the greater good.

Freud proposes that our willingness to renounce these primal urges is not simply a matter of personal choice but an essential ingredient for building complex communities. Rules, norms, and moral codes are established to regulate instinctual behaviors, channeling potentially destructive energies into socially acceptable outlets. For example, the sexual drive may be sublimated into creative or intellectual pursuits, while aggressive tendencies may find expression through competition or art. Laws and customs provide the framework within which such transformations occur, creating the necessary boundaries that safeguard both the individual and society.

Nevertheless, this process is not without cost. The repression of instinct creates internal tension and even suffering, as the desires of the unconscious persist despite external prohibitions. Freud argues that this ongoing conflict between personal impulse and collective expectation generates a sense of unease at the heart of civilization. Although the individual sacrifices instinctual gratification for security, belonging, and progress, this sacrifice brings about an inherent discontent.

Thus, civilization is both a triumph of collective order and a site of internal struggle. The advances achieved, arts, science, legal systems, are inseparable from the disciplined management of human nature’s raw forces. Freud’s observation invites reflection on the balance between societal demands and private desires, highlighting the profound psychological consequences of civilization’s necessary renunciations and the ongoing tension between what we long for and what we must relinquish to live together.